


History

by Spyder



Category: Wanted (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-05-05
Packaged: 2017-12-10 12:21:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/786002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spyder/pseuds/Spyder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A long time ago Conrad and Eddie were lovers.  Now they are working together again but can history repeat itself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	History

 

 

You may puzzle at me when I tell you  
that your not loving me is the most love  
that I ever had.

Rod McKuen

 

Then - 1990

At the age of twenty-two, Eddie Drake joined the LAPD, determined to be a good cop. At twenty-three he went on the streets with Conrad Rose, the hardest ass training officer in the division, who was determined that Eddie would be an even better one.

At twenty-four he let Rose fuck him.

Well, not ‘let’ exactly - begged, legs wide open, Conrad’s slender hips thrusting between them; pleaded, every time he was bent over the nearest piece of available furniture.

At first he told himself he did it to get an easier ride. Instead, the irony not lost on him, it got him a harder one that he had ever imagined. Which, all things considered, was a very good thing indeed.

The first time it happened they had been drunk, the day too bad to end it sober. They had ended back at Conrad’s place and full of the kind of courage only alcohol can give, Eddie pushed Conrad against the kitchen counter and went to his knees. Then, slowly, deliberately, he undid the buttons of Conrad’s jeans and blew him with every bit of skill he knew. Through it all Conrad made no sound, just looked down at him, eyes slitted and unreadable, until he came with a low growl, knuckles white as they gripped the worktop.

High on Conrad’s come and amazed at how well such a big thing fit into his mouth, Eddie sat back on his heels and looked up, not caring for the moment about the consequences. But the man’s eyes were hard glitters of lust and Eddie’s stomach fluttered at what he saw. If Conrad was the predator he most certainly was the prey. There was no mistaking the heat in them.

“How long have you been wanting to do that?”

“How long have I known you?” he replied, honestly, marvelling at how Conrad’s deep voice could sound so steady.

Conrad nodded, as though he had always known this day would come.

“What do you want now?”

“I want you to get that monster cock up again,” Eddie told him, without hesitation, “and fuck me into next week with it.”

He gasped slightly when Conrad’s fingers found his hair and tightened; threat or promise, he could not tell but either was good. “I bet you like it rough too.”

“As rough as you can give it.”

It transpired that Conrad could give it very rough indeed.

The first time, Eddie was pushed up against the same kitchen counter he blew Conrad against. The second time, later that night, he was shoved over the arm of Conrad’s sofa, his face pushed down onto the worn leather.

After that, each time got even better. The man was endlessly inventive and Eddie very quickly got used to being taken when and wherever Conrad wanted, which was just fine by him. Clean or dirty, empty or full, Conrad didn’t seem to care. The only allowance he made to any sensibilities on either part was using a condom, and while Eddie knew that was a very smart move indeed he wished just once he could feel Conrad’s come slipping out of his body as he went to sleep, when he had only the scent of Conrad on his skin and the ache in his ass to remind him the man had ever been there at all.

Apart from that one first time when Eddie was initially too drunk to drive and then too well fucked to move, Conrad never slept with him; they would have sex and Conrad would leave. That night and only then, Eddie slept in Conrad Rose’s bed and woke at some point in the darkness to find the older man pressed up against him, one arm wrapped possessively around his waist.

From then on they ended up at Eddie’s place every chance they got, usually two, sometimes even three nights a week. Conrad rode his ass in the day and rode it even harder at night. They kissed for hours sometimes, Conrad driving him wild just with his mouth and when he left Eddie would long for the man to still be in his bed.

That was one of the things that stopped it from being perfect.

The second thing, and far worse in Eddie’s eyes, was that Conrad made no secret of the fact that he was dating. Her name was Lucinda and Conrad did not attempt to hide it. Eddie had met her a couple of times and had to admit she was hot. He certainly couldn’t blame Conrad’s taste on that score. He also saw the way she looked at Conrad and knew that she had no idea her man worked both sides of the fence.

The problem was that Conrad was an honourable man, of sorts, and if he did something stupid like fall in love with her, there would be no room for Eddie Drake in their nice little arrangement. So because of that, Eddie made damn sure Conrad was to him what he was to Conrad – a good fuck, nothing more. Only in the darkest part of the night did he acknowledge the power Conrad had over him.

Nothing if not a realist, Eddie knew that sooner or later it would be over and Conrad would move on. The day it happened was actually one of their better ones. No one died, no one got hurt apart from a domestic that got a little out of hand and an abusive husband got knocked about but that hardly counted. At Conrad’s suggestion they ended up in a downtown bar sometimes frequented by cops and Eddie sipped his beer, suddenly no appetite for it, knowing what was coming. Conrad had been restless all day and more than once Eddie had caught him watching him, apprehension in his eyes.

“I’m getting married.”

It was hardly a surprise. Eddie stared into his beer. “Lucinda?”

“Yes, Lucinda. How many other women have I been dating?”

“How the fuck should I know,” Eddie snapped, not in the mood for games.

“Do you think I have time for anyone else?” Conrad’s tone was mild and suddenly Eddie despised him. It was a fleeting emotion, he knew, but all the same, for that one moment it felt good.

This means nothing to you. I mean nothing to you. I never have.

The realisation of that and his own stupidity calmed him somewhat. “I’m guessing this is the ‘thanks for the fuck, goodbye’ conversation?”

“Eddie. I’m getting married. I won’t cheat on her. You know that’s something I can’t do.”

“What did you call what we were doing? Wasn’t that cheating?”

“I was dating her. It’s different.”

Eddie gave a sharp laugh. “That’s a very customised set of morals you have there, Connie.”

“That may be so, kid,” Conrad replied, his eyes suddenly flinty, “but they’re my morals. I made no attempt to hide that I was seeing her and you never once turned me down.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I’m just a slut. Offer my ass to anything big that’s going to fill it.”

“We both know that’s not true,” Conrad said sharply, before his voice softened. “Look, kid, we had a… thing, a good thing but we both know it wasn’t a relationship. You knew damn well that neither us was going to settle down together and be cosy gay cops and I’m not getting any younger. I want kids, Eddie. I want to leave something of myself in the world.”

“And you need to know I’m OK with that?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“If it’s absolution you want, Connie, you won’t find it here. There’s none to give. Just tell me one thing - is she good? Does she blow you as well as I do?”

“I’m not answering that.”

“Why not? It hardly matters now, does it.”

Conrad sighed, maybe knowing he owed Eddie something. “No, she doesn’t blow me as well as you.”

Nodding, Eddie finished his beer, trying to ignore how empty he felt inside.

“Good.”

“Eddie, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t get above yourself, Conrad. You were just a fuck. Not a bad one, admittedly, but nothing more than that.”

“I hear you.”

Conrad’s voice was steady but Eddie thought he saw a sting of hurt cross his brown eyes. Whether Conrad believed him or not was immaterial. It was too late to care now and Eddie did the only thing he had the power to do. He left.

The next day Eddie put in a transfer to the US Marshall’s service and within the week Conrad Rose was out of his life. When he did see him again, five years later, Conrad had his heart’s desire, a son.

They met occasionally through work. Conrad was rising through the ranks and Eddie sometimes had cases that crossed over into his territory. They were polite if distant and, himself married by then, Eddie told himself that he had forgot what Conrad’s hard body felt like, how thick his cock had felt inside him, how fiercely he kissed. He told himself so well in fact that he almost believed it but deep inside he knew that Conrad Rose had lost none of his power over him and probably never would.

 

  
Now - 2005

Conrad sipped his coffee gingerly. He was not sure how Eddie managed it but he had found somewhere that actually made it hot. Good too. Coffee in a Styrofoam cup with flavour was something of a novelty to him.

“How come coffee never tastes this good when I buy it?”

His companion smirked. “Because there was a pretty girl behind the counter and I used charm on her. You should try it sometime.”

Conrad snorted. He was not a charm kind of man and they both knew it. If there was sweet talking to be done, Eddie was far better at it. It was yet another reason Conrad had hired him.

Despite their history, or perhaps even because of it, they were proving that ex-lovers could work together without letting the past intrude. That was not to say that he didn’t still find Eddie attractive but this long haired, moustached, more cynical man was very different from the fresh faced rookie Conrad had taken under his wing, which made it a damn sight easier to keep from noticing him too hard. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

“Are you OK?” Eddie asked, still keeping a watchful eye on the house they were parked across the way from. “You’ve been a little… tetchy recently.”

“More than usual, you mean?”

“I can hardly say that employee relations are your strong point, but yeah, more than usual. No one else picked it up but they don’t know you as well as I do.”

Surprised by the veiled reference to their past, something both men had scrupulously avoided mentioning so far, Conrad swirled his cup suddenly needing to talk. He was used to keeping his private life very private indeed but sometimes something would happen that he just needed to tell someone about. With a trace of bitterness he realised that apart from Eddie there was no one else to tell.

“Lucinda was pregnant. She fell yesterday and lost the baby.”

Eddie’s eyes opened wide in shock. It had clearly been the last thing he expected to hear and the emotion in them was genuine. “Jesus. Poor kid,” he sympathised. “How is she?”

“Coping.”

“And her boyfriend?”

Conrad shook his head, feeling suddenly raw. “That’s the thing - it wasn’t his baby. It was mine.”

“Shit,” Eddie swore softly, clearly not expecting that either. “I’m sorry, Connie.”

“Yeah, me too. It was a complication we didn’t need but we’d have managed.”

“Would you have got back together?”

“No. That would have been more stupid than me having sex with her in the first place and that was pretty dumb. When I signed those divorce papers I knew there was no going back.”

“There never is,” Eddie agreed and Conrad looked at him sharply but Eddie’s eyes had returned to the house and did not look back at him. “You’re looking tired. Is there anything I can do?”

“Not unless you want to take the kids to school for me tomorrow. She’s grounded for a few days so I’m trying to help as much as I can but it’s not easy.”

“Relationships and a job like this never are. Do you know one single happily married cop?”

Conrad gave a brief laugh, feeling better for having shared with someone. “No, but I know a lot of unhappily married ones.”

“The ranks of which we are no longer members, my friend. Jesus, does this guy intend to sleep all fucking day?”

Amused by Eddie’s impatience, Conrad took another drink of his coffee. He felt better for talking about it. He had two wonderful children already and had not expected any more. Still, the loss of his baby had hurt.

“Do you still hate me?” he asked suddenly, not sure why he wanted to know. The honesty between them had felt good and he was not quite ready for it to end.

Still with his eyes on the house, Eddie shook his head. “I don’t hate you, Connie. I never did. I disliked you intensely for quite a while but I got over it.”

“And now?”

There was a snort and a quick glance. “Connie, you’re my boss. You really think I’m going to answer that?”

“If I didn’t want to know I wouldn’t have asked.”

Eddie considered for a moment. “OK, you asked. Don’t blame me if you don’t like the answer. I think you’re one of the best cops in the service. I also think you’re an asshole.”

There was a moment of silence as Conrad digested that. All things considered he had probably got off lightly.

“That’s it?”

Eddie gave him an unreadable half smile. “There’s a chance you may be the sexiest fucking asshole I’ve ever met but I’m not going to commit myself on that one.”

“I’ll try not to let it go to my head,” Conrad replied sardonically, showing none of his sudden confusion.

Sexy? He hadn’t thought of himself in those terms for quite a while now and the fact that Eddie had said it startled him even more. The asshole comment had been no surprise, Conrad expected no less, but the fact that Eddie obviously still found him attractive and was not afraid to admit it was a startling revelation. Those days were long gone and no matter his own desires, Conrad had fully expected their past to never be mentioned again although he might have guessed that Eddie Drake never did anything he was expected to.

“Since we’re having a Hallmark moment here,” Conrad continued steadily, “why did you sleep with Lucinda? I don’t care but I am curious.”

This time Eddie turned to face him. “Honestly?”

Conrad nodded.

“I wanted to know if she was better than me.”

“You slept with my wife to find out if she was better at sex?” Conrad said incredulously. “You made it about me, about why I chose her?”

“Why not? It’s always been about you, Connie. Haven’t you worked that out by now?”

His coffee forgot, Conrad shook his head. “Apparently not.”

“Never mind that now,” Eddie said abruptly, sitting up. “Our boy’s on the move. The garage door’s just gone up.”

Starting the engine, Conrad eased the car smoothly out into the traffic, two cars behind the blue BMW, intent on not losing it, and pushed the unsettling conversation to the back of his mind.

 

One week later…

An hour after Pretatorio was taken into custody, via a very well secured hospital bed, Eddie was still shaking. Conrad knew he was trying to hide it but he recognised the signs. He should have done, he had been there himself often enough to know. Fortunately the bar was quiet - not so good for Eddie’s pockets maybe but better for him to be left alone.

Marsha and Jack were coping and obviously didn’t need any help. Nursing his beer, Eddie was not even glancing over to check, another sure sign if one was needed of just how shaken he was.

Conrad took the silence as opportunity to sort out his own jumbled thoughts. When the bomb blew, supposedly strapped to Eddie’s chest and he knew the man was dead, something had clenched in his insides that he had still not recovered from, even once he found out that Eddie was actually alive.

From that moment he had to acknowledge to himself that the man meant something to him although his feelings confused him and Conrad Rose did not like to be confused. He just knew that from that moment things would never be the same again.

All his protective instincts were out in force, much more than were normal and he knew he was going to have to deal with that. He was Eddie’s boss and as such was responsible for him but on a personal level he wanted to take the man and keep him safe, something he knew he had given up the right to do a long time ago.

“Thanks,” Eddie muttered, after a while.

“For what?”

“Just being here. Not talking.”

Conrad snorted. “It’s not something I’m widely known for.”

“I just needed to think and I didn’t want to be alone.”

“I know.”

It had not surprised Conrad when Eddie turned down the others’ offer of company. What had surprised him was Eddie’s request that Conrad join him for a beer. Since joining the team Eddie had shown no interest in spending any off duty time with Conrad, something Conrad understood but often regretted. What’s done is done, he told himself. The past could never be reclaimed. He had given Eddie up and he had to live with the consequences however how much it hurt him now.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, concerned. No matter how tough you were, no man could go through that unscarred.

“A little crazy. Angry.”

“For Faye Templeton?”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, for Faye, and at the kind of man who would try to murder his own children.”

“Some world we live in,” Conrad agreed, raising his beer briefly to his lips.

“You probably won’t believe me but I’m glad you had your kids,” Eddie said softly, touching Conrad’s hand and withdrawing so quickly it did not seem to have happened at all. “I always have been. When I saw you with Tony the first time, I was happy for you.”

A little ashamed at how surprised he was by that, Conrad could do nothing but be honest in return. “They are the best things I’ve ever done, but there were times when I regretted the cost.”

He watched Eddie’s face soften, his eyes blur, something in them Conrad was suddenly too afraid to contemplate.

“All that time you were married, you ever think about me? About what we used to do together?”

“Yeah,” he admitted quietly, the courage required to lie to the man, failing him. “Yeah, I thought about it. Still do.”

There was a brief flash of something on Eddie’s face but Conrad did not have the skill to read it. Once maybe he would have done, but there were too many years between.

“You know what I was thinking when I was strapped to that fucking chair, waiting to die?” Eddie said, looking down at his beer bottle. “All I could think about was my daughter and how much I wanted to see her. Time was, those last thoughts would have been of you.”

“Times like that….” Conrad hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “Times like that should be for daughters and sons. The way I treated you, I’ve never deserved that from you.”

“No, you didn’t.”

Eddie’s voice was quiet but held no bitterness and Conrad would not have blamed him if there was. Although he had promised nothing he had still used the younger man, ending their relationship when it suited him. He couldn’t change the past but he damn well could make sure that Eddie’s future was better.

“I don’t expect you in tomorrow. Go and see your daughter, Eddie. Don’t think about it, just do it. I know you tried before and it didn’t work but if you do one thing tomorrow make it that.”

Clearly surprised, Eddie nodded his thanks and when he looked at Conrad there was the sly glitter of humour in his blue eyes. “Doesn’t it get boring?”

“What?”

“Being right all the time.”

Conrad laughed out loud. Something he could not remember doing for quite a while. “Yeah, sometimes. Us perfect guys have such a burden to carry.”

“I can see that. You only have one ex-wife to worry about. It takes a real fuck up to have three.”

“You never did explain that. What happened? You have a problem making your mind up?”

And then the humour was gone. Eddie’s face was unreadable and Conrad suddenly wondered if he really knew the man at all. “Maybe I was just waiting for one of them to measure up to you.”

“Jesus, Eddie.”

“You get laid recently?” he was asked suddenly, abruptly.

Conrad stared at him. “What? None of your damn business.”

Blue eyes locked on his unwaveringly. “It isn’t every day a man comes close to dying like that. That crazy I mentioned? I feel the need for a little of it.”

Conrad’s stomach clenched. This was the last thing he needed. It was also suddenly the thing he needed most in the world and for the first time in a long time he did not know what to do. In the end, responsibility took over. “Eddie, I have more than enough crazy going on in my life at the moment. I don’t need complications.”

“Who the hell said anything about complications?” Eddie retorted. “I need to get fucked, that’s all. Don’t flatter yourself, Connie, there’s nothing more to it than that. If you want to, great. If you don’t, I’ll find someone who does.”

Like hell.

Confronted, Conrad knew he was not going to allow that to happen. From the first moment he walked into the bar that day he hired Eddie, Conrad wanted him. Who the hell was he trying to kid? No matter how many times he told himself that it was long over between them, Conrad knew it was not true and never would be. Older than the man he knew so long before, this Eddie was harder, less idealistic and somehow because of that even more desirable.

“What exactly do you want?” Conrad asked, not meeting his companion’s eyes. Whatever it made him, he had to face the truth that he had never stopped wanting Eddie Drake. He had relegated their past to a place in his head where it no longer mattered but he knew how wrong he was to think that way. The memories were just not going to go away and at that moment Conrad was not sure he wanted them to.

Eddie gave a small shrug, his face impassive although his eyes burned with a need that Conrad could almost touch. “I want to forget and I don’t care how. Hard, fast, brutal, it’s all good. You done much of that recently?”

“Not for about fifteen years.”

“Time you did then.” Eddie drained his beer and stood. “You coming?”

It was every kind of wrong and Conrad didn’t hesitate. “Not yet. Apparently.”

 

Conrad knew that Eddie had a house somewhere else but the bar led to a small apartment that looked as though it was regularly occupied. Knowing the man he probably spent more time at the bar than at home.

“Hey, Marsha, do you mind locking up?” Eddie asked, on his way past the bar.

“Sure,” the woman replied, “no problem,” and gave a speculative look to Conrad that spoke volumes. In return he sent her the hardest stare he had but she just smiled and raised her eyebrows.

“Have a good night, boys,” she called after them as Eddie led him into the back. Still amazed that the stare had not worked on her, Conrad followed, wondering if he was losing his touch.

The door was barely closed behind them when Eddie pressed him into the back of it and suddenly they were kissing as though their lives depended on it and every moment between now and their last kiss, fifteen years before, faded into nothing. Eddie’s mouth was strange yet oddly familiar and only the prickle of his moustache was different. He tasted of beer and spices and Conrad explored his mouth eagerly knowing that now this single step had been taken, he could never go back.

Pulling Eddie’s hard body to him, Conrad flipped them so that Eddie was plastered against the door instead and pressed him into it firmly. Although they were much the same build and Eddie was ten years younger, he was also shorter and Conrad used that to his advantage, allowing no escape as he reacquainted himself with his ex-lover’s mouth. Taking over the kiss completely, Conrad wound his fingers in Eddie’s soft hair and held him steady. Moaning in response, Eddie closed his eyes and thrust against him almost desperately.

Conrad felt his cock harden at the realisation that he could have Eddie right here; he could just turn him and sink into that tight little hole and afterwards Eddie would thank him for it.

Then probably tell him to leave.

Which would not do. It would not do at all.

Instead, Conrad pulled away from the door and took Eddie with him, wrapping the younger man in his arms.

Out of breath from their kiss, Eddie looked up at him, confusion on his face. “God, don’t stop. Please, Connie. If you walk out now I swear I’ll….”

“Hush, kid,” Conrad soothed, stroking his cheek with a gentle thumb. “You got me, OK? You want to forget, I’ll make you forget your name but I want to take my time over it. You got a bed around here? These days I like to be comfortable.”

That wasn’t strictly true. Conrad was more than happy to do it anywhere the occasion presented itself but this was different. Despite what Eddie had asked for, Conrad wanted to make it more than sex for stress relief. He wanted Eddie to want it again – to want him.

“Not as young as you used to be, huh?” Eddie whispered, leaning into the caress.

“Who is?” Conrad replied and just for the hell of it kissed Eddie again, using every ounce of skill he possessed, reclaiming what was once his. “Bed,” he growled hungrily when they pulled apart. “I want to be inside you.”

That seemed to do the trick. Taking his hand, Eddie pulled him into a small but surprisingly neat room which confirmed Conrad’s guess that Eddie slept here a lot of the time. There was a decent sized bed, a chest of drawers that had seen better days and a small wardrobe. Later he would ask why Eddie slept there but for now there were more important things to think of.

Like getting Eddie naked.

Even as he closed the door behind them Eddie started unbuttoning his shirt but Conrad slapped his hand away. “That’s my job,” he said sternly, getting very damn close and personal. “This may be just a fuck but while I’m here you’re mine. You don’t do anything unless I tell you to. Are we clear on that?”

For a moment fire flared in Eddie’s eyes and Conrad thought he had gone too far but then something broke and the fire turned to need and lust. It was then that Conrad realised what a mistake he had made. If he thought he could walk away from this he was dreaming. It was already far too late to turn back.

“Fuck, yes,” Eddie breathed, allowing his dominance as he always had.

“Is that it?” Conrad smirked, unbuttoning the shirt and pushing it back from muscular shoulders. “No smart remarks? No comebacks?”

Eddie’s nipples were already hard and Conrad brushed his thumbs over them, remembering how sensitive they were.

The younger man drew in a sharp breath. “Not until you’ve fucked me. Do that and you can have all the smart remarks you want.”

Conrad pulled him close and deliberately rubbed their denim clad cocks together. “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t breathe,” he promised, his words brushing across Eddie’s ear. “If you’re even able to get mouthy after that I’ll give you a week’s wages.”

“Mine or yours?”

Ignoring him, Conrad bit into the soft flesh at the junction of neck and shoulder and sucked, expertly leaving a bruise while his hands opened Eddie’s jeans and pushed them off his hips. As he fisted the shaft tightly, his hand fitting around it as perfectly as if it had been made for that purpose, he worked his way to Eddie’s mouth and licked over parted lips, loving the way the younger man moaned into his mouth.

“You like that?”

“Fuck, yes.”

“So I’ve not lost my touch?”

Eddie’s reply, if there was one, was lost in Conrad’s mouth.

Sensing that Eddie was getting close, Conrad let go of his cock with a regretful squeeze. “Now,” he said huskily, loving the sight of a thoroughly debauched looking Eddie, “you can get naked. Then I want you face down on the bed so I can taste you.”

Looking slightly dazed Eddie sat on the bed to remove his boots. With his jeans pushed to his thighs it looked awkward but Conrad made no offer to help. “You gotta be kidding. I haven’t showered since this morning – I’ll be rank.”

“You’ll be you. That’s what I want from this – to remember what you taste like.”

“Like shit, man.” Eddie pulled a face as he finally got his jeans off, but obeyed nonetheless, climbing up the bed and turning onto his stomach.

“So long as it’s you, I don’t care,” Conrad replied, quickly removing his own clothes and covered Eddie’s muscular body with his own. The feeling of hot skin on skin was enough to make him groan and he pressed his cock tight against the crack of Eddie’s delicious ass.

“Tell me you have condoms and lube.”

“Top drawer,” Eddie gasped, as Conrad bit down on his neck before fumbling for the supplies he needed, laying them on the bed ready. Part of him wanted to know why Eddie had condoms so readily available but he had no intention of ruining this by asking.

“You taste so good,” he murmured, licking the pale skin that covered Eddie’s spine and began to work his way down it. Determined to drive him crazy, Conrad licked and bit his way lower, using hands to caress and pinch, each touch calculated to make Eddie want more. He took his time to reach his goal, ignoring his own impatience and Eddie’s groan of protest as he got closer.

“Be still,” he ordered sharply when Eddie tried to move away and then he was there and Eddie was laid out before him, the tight ring of muscle exposed as he held the taught cheeks apart and dipped his head.

God, yes. Perfect.

As he swathed his tongue across the tight pucker, he moaned appreciatively. Eddie tasted dark and earthy, the scent and taste rich with the flavours of man and sweat and all the things that Conrad loved so long ago. Not clean but that was why it was so good.

Beneath him, Eddie shuddered but his protests changed to low breathy moans as Conrad began to press deeper, his tongue almost but not quite entering. Not yet, he told himself, not until he’s begging.

Because he will.

Pulling back, he gripped Eddie’s hips and encouraged him onto his knees, chest still on the bed, and set to work again, this time wrapping a hand around the man’s weeping cock as he returned to licking the delicious hole.

“Aaaaah, fuck,” Eddie moaned as Conrad began to lap in earnest. “God, Connie, please…”

That was all the encouragement Conrad needed. Pressing harder now he slid his tongue inside, tasting deeper. Christ, how had he lived without this?

Knowing that his tongue would be nowhere near enough to stretch the younger man for his cock, Conrad pushed his thumb in, licking around it and pushing it alongside as he started to stretch the tight muscles. The thumb became two fingers and two became three but his tongue was always there, pushing inside, tasting, savouring. All the while his other hand worked Eddie’s cock, forcing ever louder moans from him until Conrad crooked his fingers up to the hard nub of nerve endings inside and after taking as much as he could Eddie came with a hoarse cry, the muscles clenching deliciously around Conrad’s fingers.

Panting, Eddie slid back onto the bed and Conrad triumphantly followed him down, allowing his fingers to slip out.

“Good?” he asked, moving up to nuzzle into the younger man’s neck.

“Jesus, Connie, you trying to kill me?”

“I think we can safely say that was not my intention. You want fucking and I will, babe, so hard you’ll remember it for a week.”

So damn good you’ll want me back.

Reaching for the condom, he quickly ripped it open and smoothed it down his cock, slicking it with lube then lightly slapped one firm cheek. “Hands and knees again, now.”

Obeying instantly, the muscles in his back quivering with need, Eddie let out a long groan as Conrad moved in behind him and fit the blunt head of his cock into the puckered opening. The time for teasing past, he began to push inside, knowing that even stretched it was going to be uncomfortable. For all he knew Eddie may have been fucked the week before but he knew he was bigger than average and his intention was for it not to hurt – this time.

Although he went slowly, Eddie still gasped and clutched at the sheets. “Jesus, Connie, slow down. It’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve done this.”

“How long?” Conrad growled softly, slowing nonetheless.

“None of your damn fucking business,” Eddie grated, and then, “Don’t stop.”

Leaning down Conrad bit a tempting patch of skin just left of Eddie’s spine, before smoothly pushing in the rest of the way. “Don’t even think about telling me what to do when I’ve got my cock in your ass. I’ve already told you – you’re mine and you’ll take what I fucking give you.”

“Yes, yours. Yours, Connie, just fuck me, please.”

“That’s better,” Conrad approved, more turned on by Eddie’s desperate whine than he would have ever thought possible. “You want it, babe?”

“Please…..”

Taking a firm grip on Eddie’s hips, Conrad started to slide out then slammed back in as hard as he could, eliciting a shriek from the younger man. “Too much?” he growled, and then did it again. “Too bad. You’re getting what you asked for.”

Setting an uneven rhythm to keep his lover off balance, Conrad drove into him mercilessly knowing Eddie could take it. This was no different to how they had been together before except that maybe back then he had not appreciated Eddie’s tight little ass as much as he did now.

“Think you can still come just from cock?” he asked, biting again to get Eddie’s attention. When there was no reply save for a panting groan, Conrad grinned evilly. “Let’s find out, shall we.”

Doubling his efforts, Conrad pounded into his lover, determined to drive him out of his mind. He knew how well Eddie loved hard nasty sex and he could not imagine their time apart had changed that.

He was right. Making sure that he angled his thrusts to hit Eddie’s prostate every time, he was not surprised to hear a string of profanity that outdid any they had come out with that night so far and feel the still tight muscles of Eddie’s ass clench around his cock as he came for the second time.

“Yessss,” Conrad hissed, managing a dozen or so more thrusts before his body could go no longer and he came, hard, throbbing into latex and tight, wet heat. “Mine.”

Not denying it, Eddie fell bonelessly down onto the bed, tearing Conrad from his body with a loud groan.

Out of breath, Conrad slumped down next to his lover’s back. It was a hell of a long time since he’d been able to pound someone like that and it had taken more out of him than he’d expected. Rolling over long enough to tie the condom off and drop it by the bed, Conrad nestled back against Eddie and stroked appreciatively down one muscular flank.

“So do I have to give my wages away this week?” he asked smugly.

There was no reply and looking over he realised that Eddie was fast asleep, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up with him.

Not sure why he felt the need but doing it anyway, Conrad placed a soft kiss on one shoulder and lay back on the pillow to get his breath back properly.

“Sleep well, kid,” he murmured. He’d only stay for a minute or two. He had promised Lucinda he’d take the kids to school in the morning and he didn’t want her to know what he’d been up to. She could smell sex at a hundred paces and things were good between them right now. After her miscarriage they were both trying to be friends and weirdly it seemed to be working. Adding sex to the mix, especially sex not involving her was a recipe for disaster.

Sated after such a spectacular orgasm and tired from the energetic sex, Conrad did not even notice when his eyes closed and he joined his new lover in sleep.

He woke suddenly sometime later realising with a start that he was not alone in bed, something that had not happened since he left Lucinda. Beside him, Eddie had turned over to face him. He looked younger now that the care had gone from his face and Conrad felt a rush of emotion that he quickly squashed, something he was not sure how to deal with right now.

His watch said nearly three and he slipped out of bed, dressing as quietly as he could. The used condom was where he had left it so he wrapped it in a tissue and tossed it in the bin. Then, finding a blanket at the end of the bed, he unfolded it and covered the sleeping man.

“Gotta go, babe,” he whispered, before putting the lights out and letting himself out of the back door he had noticed on his way in.

Once home, he managed two more hours of sleep before the alarm woke him.

*****

As instructed, Eddie did not appear the following day. There were enquiries about him and Conrad fenced them off by saying that Eddie had seemed OK when he left him, which was more or less the truth, if well fucked counted as OK, and that he had given him the day off to sort out some personal business. Jimmy had not looked surprised by that but he knew about Eddie’s daughter and could put two and two together well enough.

It turned into a quiet day. None of their suspects came out to play so the majority of it was spent sorting paperwork. There were the expected moans from his team but Conrad settled into it without rancour feeling more relaxed than he had for some time, no doubt the result of such good sex.

Alone in his office he found himself wondering about Eddie’s daughter. Was she pretty? Sweet? Would she remember Eddie after three years? For the sake of his friend, Conrad hoped so, unable to imagine a world without his own kids in it. He and Lucinda may have had issues but they certainly had produced two beautiful children between them.

He imagined Irene to be a blond child, petite, with her father’s snub nose and sky blue eyes. It was an attractive combination, to him anyway, and must also have been to the three women Eddie had married. His lover was an attractive man all round and…

His lover.

Conrad savoured how that sounded, liking it more and more. Despite Eddie’s protestations there was no way Conrad was going to allow the night before to be a one shot deal. The sex had been too good and they had both needed it far too badly. Despite what had gone on in their lives they were now both single men and Conrad could not see any reason why they could not go back to what they had before.

When six o’clock came and still no one had surfaced, Conrad sent the team home, intending to stay over himself; after all, he had nothing to go home to that night. He was just stretching the kinks out of his neck when he heard familiar footsteps outside.

“I thought I said I didn’t want to see you today,” he growled, looking up at the figure that appeared in his doorway. Eddie was wearing a smart well fitted burgundy shirt and looked the tidiest Conrad had ever seen him.

“Actually you said you didn’t ‘expect’ to see me. If you don’t ‘want’ to see me, I’ll leave you and your paperwork alone together.”

“Don’t even think about it. So? How did it go?”

Eddie’s face broke into a smile, brighter than Conrad had seen on him for a long time. “Good. Real good.”

“And she was glad to see you?”

“Yeah. Wife number one not so much but Irene…, hearing her call me daddy, it was good, man.”

Conrad nodded, understanding. “Yeah, it is. I don’t think I ever get tired of it, apart from the fact that I’ve suddenly become ‘pop.’ Makes me feel like an old man and don’t ever think of agreeing with me there.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Eddie replied, his eyes a sly sparkle.

“So are you going to see her again?”

“As soon and as often as I can.”

“Good. Glad to hear it.”

Eddie shrugged, his face still showing the memory of what Pretatorio had done to him. “I almost died yesterday. Getting shot is different. Sitting there like that waiting to be blown apart… it changes things.”

“Yes, I noticed that,” Conrad agreed sardonically. “It changed a hell of a lot.”

Relaxing against the doorpost, Eddie met his eyes challengingly. “If you’re referring to us having sex, it didn’t change a damn thing. I can’t go back to what we used to do fifteen years ago.”

“I thought we just did.”

“No, I bent over for you because it was what I needed. I’m not going to do it again.”

Confused, Conrad shook his head. What the hell did the man want? He had no doubt that it had been the best sex either of them had had in quite a while so what was the problem?

“Do you have some kind of self denial thing going on that I don’t know about?”

“Yeah, something like that. What did you think was going to happen, Connie?”

“I was hoping we could carry on where we left off, starting with more of what we did last night.”

Eddie nodded. “More. Yeah, there’s a surprise. I want more too, Con – only I want it to be more than just being sex.”

Conrad felt his jaw drop and before he had even thought, blurted out, “Eddie, this is not a good time in my life for romance.”

“Did I ask for romance?” Eddie snapped. “I said I needed more. Just knowing that you give a shit would be enough.”

Pausing, Conrad bit back the retort he had been about to make. Something important was happening here and it was no time to make the man angry. “Eddie, I’ve always given a shit where you’re concerned.”

“Then give more of one. Connie, look, I don’t want hearts and flowers but I do need to feel that you have somewhere better to go the minute you’ve tied the condom off. If you want to have sex with me again then I have conditions.”

“And they are?” Conrad asked curiously. Suddenly ‘not doing it again’ had turned into ‘again but with conditions’ and that was more than enough to get his attention.

“Very simple – just two. Staying the night and not fucking anyone else, male or female. Do you think you could do that?”

“You want me to sleep with you?” Conrad asked incredulously. Of all the things he had imagined the younger man wanting, he would have never guessed it would be something so simple, something so easily granted. He thought back to the way they were, to the nights he had left Eddie in his bed, exhausted and fucked but never once had he stayed. It had never occurred to him that Eddie wanted him to and even if he had, back then, he would not have been ready to make such a commitment with a man.

“That’s what I said,” Eddie replied stubbornly. “I don’t want things to go back to the way they were between us.”

“Things were different back then.”

Eddie shook his head. “No, things are different now. I don’t want you any less but I won’t be used by you, Connie, not this time. You can have me any which way from Sunday but my conditions stand.”

“Sleeping with you, not seeing anyone else,” Conrad repeated thoughtfully. “That almost sounds like a relationship.”

“Well, blow me, I guess it does.” Eddie’s voice was heavy with sarcasm. “Would that be so terrible?”

“Blowing you? No, I don’t think it would.”

Conrad watched Eddie’s expression change to one of wary surprise. “If you point it, you’d better be prepared to pull the trigger.”

“It’s been a while but I think I can remember how,” Conrad replied with a smirk, deliberately misunderstanding. It was so easy to distract the younger man with sex. He wasn’t quite ready just yet to make such a decision about his future but Eddie looked too good to resist. “Your trigger need pulling, babe?”

“What the hell do you think?”

“Thought so. I could always tell. Why don’t you come over here?” Leaning back in his chair Conrad watched indecision cross Eddie’s face. “I’m not in the habit of offering twice.”

“I’m not your lapdog, asshole,” Eddie grumbled, but came anyway.

Laughing, Conrad stood and pushed him against the desk. “Of course you are,” he growled into Eddie’s neck before biting hungrily.

“You keep calling me babe.”

“I thought you wanted different. You don’t like it?”

“I didn’t say that,” Eddie replied, as Conrad made his way across his jaw.

This kiss was slower, deeper and Conrad controlled it absolutely, not allowing it to get as frantic as the night before. This time he wanted to prove that not everything they did together was about him. “Get your dick out,” he ordered, lips against lips. “I want to see your hand on it.”

“Jesus, Connie, we’re in your fucking office.”

“And we’re on lockdown - no one here but us mice. Anyone comes in we’ll hear them.”

“But we were having a serious conversation.”

“We were, I listened and I need to think. Now get your dick out like I told you.”

There was a soft pant from the younger man as Conrad made his way down his neck.

“You think that macho bullshit is going to work?”

Conrad chuckled and ground his hips against Eddie’s thigh. “I know it will, baby. You think I can’t feel how hard you are?”

“Fucker,” Eddie breathed, but obeyed anyway, opening his jeans and bringing out his painfully erect cock and fisting it tightly.

“Not tonight,” Conrad grinned, pushing him back to lie on the desk. “Fuck, that’s sexy,” he breathed as he pushed Eddie’s legs apart and slipped between them. This was a whole different kind of sexy to Lucinda. This was a grown man, hard muscle and attitude and the sight of him laid out like that nearly made Conrad come on the spot. Young Eddie Drake had been eager and kinda cute but this Eddie was more to Conrad’s tastes and the fact that he rolled over so easily only made it better.

“That’s it,” he hissed, opening the buttons of Eddie’s shirt and delivering a set of biting kisses down his muscled chest and stomach. “You want my mouth on it, babe?”

“Christ, yeah.”

“Ask for it.”

“You never used to be this bossy.”

“Your memory must be failing. I’ve always been bossy and you love it.”

“There you go with that being right again. God, Connie, suck me. Please.”

“My pleasure,” Conrad murmured and took the head of Eddie’s cock into his mouth, tasting the unique flavour of this man that he had so foolishly allowed himself to forget.

Not as long or thick as his own, Eddie’s uncut cock was nevertheless a work of art and as Conrad reacquainted himself with the techniques and tricks to giving good head, he realised how much he had missed this. Loving being in control, he experimented eagerly, drawing out gasps and moans as he found the most sensitive places - the ridge beneath the head, the foreskin, the thick blood-swollen vein that ran up the front. Slowly, he ran his tongue up it, making the prone body shiver.

“Oh yeah,” he said smugly, replacing his mouth with his hand for a moment. “Like this, don’t you, babe.”

“Fuck you,” Eddie hissed, arching his back as Conrad squeezed. “Don’t stop.”

Conrad thrust his own hard denim clad cock into Eddie’s balls. “That’s the one thing I have no intention of doing. You still feeling used?”

“Wha?”

Running his thumb over the leaking tip, Conrad leaned down and tasted the sweet juice.

“I seem to recall you saying that you didn’t want to be used by me. I’m just checking that you don’t feel used right now.”

“Oh God, Connie, you fucking bastard, just shut up and suck me.”

Chuckling, Conrad returned to his task, realising that he liked the feeling of undoing Eddie like this. Taking the delicious weeping cock back in he began to work it in earnest, long forgot skills coming back again in a moment. Never having acquired the skill of deep throating, or wanting to for that matter, Conrad kept one hand wrapped around the base of the shaft and worked the rest with his mouth and tongue. His other hand snaked up to pinch and pull on one tiny brown nipple, remembering that the extra touch of pain would get Eddie begging.

It was with a certain sense of smug satisfaction that he discovered that some things had not changed.

“Fuck, Connie, please, that’s so…. Shit, I’m gonna come…”

Whilst appreciating the warning, Conrad had no intention of stopping now. Hell, yeah, he thought triumphantly as Eddie pulsed and hot thick come coated his tongue. Very different from the taste of Lucinda’s orgasm, Conrad had always appreciated both varieties and it had been far too long since he had partaken of this particular flavour.

Leaving Eddie’s softening cock, Conrad covered the limp body and kissed him deeply, feeding his come back to him, the kiss deep and dirty. After a moment of shock Eddie groaned his appreciation and sucked greedily on his tongue until it was all gone.

As it had the previous night the damn moustache prickled at him but Conrad was getting used to it now; not only that but he was beginning to like the blunt masculinity of it, there being no doubt whatsoever about who he was with.

Still in control, Conrad slowed the kiss, stroking his hand through Eddie’s soft silky hair.

“Good?” he murmured against kiss reddened lips.

Eddie’s hands found his hips, hooking into his jeans to keep him close. “Not bad.”

“Guess I’ll just have to practice some more then,” Conrad laughed softly, taking the teasing for what it was.

Eddie tilted his hips up. “You going to fuck me now?” he asked hopefully, his voice low and husky and more sexy than Conrad had ever heard it before.

Dropping kisses along his partner’s jaw line, Conrad shook his head. “Nope.”

“Huh?”

“That’s what I said. You wanted different, babe, so I’m giving it to you. This was for you.”

“Connie, fucking me is for me. You think I don’t enjoy it?”

“Oh I know….”

Conrad’s phone shrilled into life. “Fuck.”

Eddie sighed as Conrad pushed off him. “No, no fuck.”

While he talked, Conrad watched Eddie push himself up from the desk and tuck himself away regretfully.

“That was LAPD,” he said, hanging up. “Number thirty-nine was just spotted going into a whorehouse downtown and shows no sign of coming out soon.”

“Could he have picked a better time?” Eddie complained.

“Oh, I’m sure he could have done better than that. Go get the team together. Just because the guy’s stupid doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous.”

All business again, Eddie headed for the door. “Connie?” he said, before going to work. “That thinking you’re doing. Don’t take too long.”

*****

Stepping into the shower, Eddie Drake allowed the water to wash the day from his skin. It had been hard but then they all were. They had put away another number though which made it more than worthwhile.

He felt tired but it was far too early to sleep. The bar was in good hands and he was not in the mood for the place tonight. He planned to settle down, watch mindless TV and drift off to sleep to some pointless sitcom. The only thing different from any other night was that he would not be drinking. Conrad was right, though it pained him to admit it, he did drink too much. But not any more. Now he had Irene that was going to stop.

He had persuaded his ex-wife to let him spend one night a week with his daughter. It was not much but it was a start and after three years he knew he could not expect more. It was up to him to prove himself and he had every intention of doing just that. He wanted his daughter to be as proud of him as he was of her but knew that would take time.

After soaping himself down and washing his hair, he stood under the hot water to rinse taking an almost sensual delight in the feeling of the water on his skin. Having sex again after nothing but his hand for months seemed to have awakened his libido and he felt almost desperate for something in his ass although he knew how unlikely that was going to be.

The previous day had been more than eventful and the two people he had come most into contact with could not have been more different. His daughter had been slight in his arms, so delicate and fragile. In contrast, Conrad had been strong, overpowering by will alone and in very different ways, Eddie had loved both touches.

Turning off the water, he stood for a minute to drip unable to get the image of Conrad’s mouth on his cock out of his mind. Twenty-four hours later he still could not forget how good it had felt and he could no longer deny how much he wanted the man. He had tried to, for a while, even after the sex but he was kidding himself and he knew it. No one had ever dominated him the way Conrad did and he would not allow it from anyone else.

Damn him, Eddie thought, reaching for a towel, although he knew he could blame no one but himself. He was the one who had initiated sex between them. Until that point Conrad had made no move and Eddie had given up any hope of him doing so. Had it not been for the burning heat that flared in the man’s dark eyes when he had asked if Conrad had been laid recently, he would not have offered and things would be simpler now, if less interesting.

As for the sex, it had been better than promised and despite the fact that he had woken up alone, he slept better than he had for a long time. Not only that, Conrad’s easy and effortless domination fulfilled him in ways he could not begin to count. Strange how after fifteen years they had slipped back so easily into those roles. Strange how helpless he wanted to feel in Conrad’s hands.

Impatiently, he pulled on an old pair of sweat pants and a clean but ragged tee-shirt. He was a US Marshall, for fuck’s sake. What the hell was wrong with him that he accepted, even wanted, Conrad’s control so much? Not that the man had ever done it outside of sex but did that actually make a difference?

When it came to sex with women Eddie was the one on top, he called the shots and he liked it. With men, and one man in particular, he was reduced to a moaning, panting puddle and worse, he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

Although nothing further had been said between them, especially not in work, he had seen Conrad’s watchful eyes on him, speculative and analysing but as unreadable as always and showing no hint of what was going on in that devious brain of his.

There was, of course, every chance that he’d blown it. Eddie was quite aware that Conrad was newly divorced and asking for even the smallest kind of commitment from him was more than likely more than he could give. All the same he’d had no choice. No matter what Conrad wanted Eddie refused to return to the past. His desire for Conrad was not enough to go back to being something the older man used whenever he felt like it.

He was just combing through his hair when there was a knock on the door. Not expecting anyone Eddie checked through the window before he answered, caution second nature to him after so many years as a cop and was slightly irritated by the clench of his insides when he saw it was Conrad.

“Hey,” he greeted, answering the door, very aware all of a sudden of how untidy he looked. Conrad on the other hand was nothing less than stunning. He wore a white linen fitted shirt and tight low slung jeans that hid nothing. He must have been to see Lucinda, Eddie reasoned, or had a date. Either way he could guess what Conrad wanted.

“Can I come in? We need to talk.”

He nodded curtly. “Sure,” and stood aside, trying not to stare at the man’s ass as he went past. It was a long time since he’d seen Conrad dressed for sex but there was simply no other way to describe the outfit he was wearing. He looked casual and completely comfortable and very different from the Conrad Rose Eddie worked for. Gelled into tousled spikes, even his hair was sexy and Eddie felt himself bristling that he would go to such effort for someone else.

“Nice house,” Conrad said approvingly, looking around. “Better than your place at the bar.”

Eddie shrugged, following him into the front room. “It serves its purpose. I come here when I need a bit more peace and quiet.”

Surprisingly Conrad looked a little disappointed. “Is this not a good time?”

“Just get it over with, Connie. I know why you’re here. The quicker you say it the quicker you can go wherever it is you’re going.”

“Going?” Conrad frowned. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ve just got here if you hadn’t noticed.”

“I can hardly help but notice, you look like sex on legs. She’s a lucky girl, whoever she is.”

“Girl?” Conrad echoed, and then his mouth fell into a knowing smirk. “Oh, I get it. Did you think I had a date?”

Confused, Eddie nodded. “Don’t you?”

With nothing less than a prowl, Conrad stalked towards him and leaned in to breathe his scent. “Do you think,” he said huskily, not touching but still setting Eddie’s senses alight, “that I go to this kind of trouble for just anyone? I’m here to see you, babe, no one else.”

Overwhelmed by Conrad’s sudden closeness and the possessive way he was leaning into him, Eddie felt his breath catch. “Then all that pretty’s for me?” he asked, a little breathlessly, running his hands over Conrad’s slender denim clad hips.

“Of course it’s for you. Who else would it be for?”

“I thought you were here to end it.”

Conrad pulled their bodies close and rested their foreheads together. “Idiot,” he chided, gruff affection in his voice. “I’m here to start it – properly this time, like I should have done years ago.”

The hardness in his jeans was unmistakable and Eddie groaned as it rubbed against him. “Jesus, Connie, do you have any idea how fucked up this is?”

Conrad smirked, whispering, “Do you have any idea how much I want to rip that tee-shirt off you and tie you to your bed with what’s left of it?”

Instantly hard, Eddie fought back the urge to get to his knees and beg for it. “Don’t be expecting me to stop you any time soon,” he gasped, as Conrad’s mouth finally made contact with his.

The kiss was deep and possessive, leaving Eddie in no doubt as to who was in charge of it. Hell, of everything. All the protests he may have had melted away. What harm did this do? Outside of the bedroom he was the same man and if he chose to allow Conrad’s domination within, it was nothing to do with anyone else.

“If we do this now, you’re mine,” Conrad warned, breath hot against his lips. “When we’re in bed I’ll do what I want with you and you’ll fucking thank me for it, have you got that?”

Oh God.

Eddie understood. It meant he was in heaven.

“Yeah,” he nodded, swallowed heavily and nodded again. “I get it. In bed, I’m yours.”

“No,” Conrad murmured, stroking down his cheek possessively, “you’re always mine. Bed is just where I’ll prove it.”

“You’re gonna kill me,” Eddie groaned, hooking his thumbs into the back of those oh so tight jeans.

Conrad laughed softly, kissing him again. “But what a way to go, huh?”

His senses almost overwhelmed, Eddie knew he was losing himself again. Once again Conrad had walked in and taken over and good though it was, Eddie needed to know where he stood. Walking away from this would be the hardest thing he had ever done, but he would if Conrad was not going to change.

Taking a deep breath, he backed off, pulling out of Conrad’s arms.

“You make it that I can’t think straight,” he explained, at the older man’s obvious confusion, “and right now I really need a clear head. I’m not going to let you walk all over me this time, Connie. Just tell me what’s going on here.”

Don’t make all this be for nothing, he begged silently.

Reaching into his back pocket, Conrad pulled out a small package. It was a toothbrush - a brand new, blue, unwrapped, hard-bristled, Oral-B toothbrush.

“This is what’s going on,” he said softly, handing it over. “I bought it for your bathroom; in the hope that I’d be needing it.”

Eddie stared at the toothbrush.

Conrad’s toothbrush.

For when he stayed the night.

“Will I be needing it, babe?”

Eddie grinned.

“Oh yeah,” he replied huskily, pulling Conrad back towards him, loving the strong arms that slid so easily around his waist. “Now we’ve got that out of the way, don’t you have something to prove?”


End file.
